Unsilent Night – Cambridge – 2009

Monday was Unsilent Night in Miss Mussel’s corner of the universe. The crowd that gathered to stroll through the town centre was rather large although only one in ten had any sort of audio device. Mere Mussel’s best efforts were foiled by her offspring’s sieve-like memory (mp3 player was left at home), so no ethical lines were even remotely approached, let alone crossed.

Since Canadian are such nice people, everyone kept a respectable distance away from each other. This accommodation of others’ space proved to be a bit problematic in light of the lack of music sources. The full effect of the piece was most noticeable when we were forced off the street into a big clump waiting to move to a footpath.

One other magic moment came near the end when the bells on the recordings met up with a carilloneur playing a wobbly Here We Come A Wassailing at Central Presbyterian. Seeing as it’s the season of goodwill, Miss Mussel will charitably suggest that it was perhaps the world’s only hipster carilloneur playing ironically. *ahem*

Here’s what it was like. Audio and stills were captured on iPhone using HT Recorder and CameraBag. Not a bad piece of kit to have in knocking about in a pocket or handbag.

Composer Phil Kline discusses the ideas behind the piece ici:

Other people have also reported on Unsilent Night happenings in their respective towns:Anne Midgette | Brian Sacawa Part 1 – Part 2